Another shocking outing
George Takei and his partner have been together for 18 years.
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) — George Takei, who as “Star Trek..’s” Sulu was part of the Starship Enterprise crew through three television seasons and six movies, has come out as a homosexual in the current issue of Frontiers, a biweekly Los Angeles magazine covering the gay and lesbian community.
Takei told The Associated Press on Thursday that his new onstage role as psychologist Martin Dysart in “Equus,” helped inspire him to publicly discuss his sexuality.
Takei described the character as a “very contained but turbulently frustrated man.” The play opened Wednesday at the David Henry Hwang Theater in Los Angeles, the same day that Frontiers magazine featured a story on Takei..’s coming out.
The current social and political climate also motivated Takei..’s disclosure, he said.
“The world has changed from when I was a young teen feeling ashamed for being gay,” he said. “The issue of gay marriage is now a political issue. That would have been unthinkable when I was young.”
The 68-year-old actor said he and his partner, Brad Altman, have been together for 18 years.
Takei, a Japanese-American who lived in a U.S. internment camp from age 4 to 8, said he grew up feeling ashamed of his ethnicity and sexuality. He likened prejudice against gays to racial segregation.
“It..’s against basic decency and what American values stand for,” he said.
Takei joined the “Star Trek” cast in 1966 as Hikaru Sulu, a character he played for three seasons on television and in six subsequent films. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1986.
A community activist, Takei ran for the Los Angeles City Council in 1973. He serves on the advisory committee of the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program and is chairman of East West Players, the theater company producing “Equus.”
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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This is even less shocking then whole Cherryl Swoopes story. Yet it is still on the front page of CNN.com… My god… I want someone totally shocking to come out. Something that makes me go “Holy shit really?”
Here would be my top five famous people that would shock me:
1) Scott Baio- He reputation of nailing every girl in the history of hollywood precedes him.
2) Tom Brady- Star qb on a super bowl winning team that nails starlets…. Actually he slept with Tara Reid that might be enough to make him switch teams.
3) George Clooney- He is a total guys guy…
4) Tom Arnold- Fat, annoying, borish… no way.
5) Tara Reid- The biggest slut ever… I could see her playing the bi card to get attention. Maybe a drunken makeout session with Paris Hilton…
ONE MORE THING: Do you think CNN found the gayest possible picture for him? Seriously… I mean do you think they have a file just for pictures like that? Like if Brad Pitt came out they have pictures from “Legend’s of the Fall” ready to go?
